Shy, sexy Guy Pearce pumps up for Lockout

Jenna Milly is a screenwriter. She co-created the TBS microseries "Gillian in Georgia." She earned her B.A. in Journalism from the University of Georgia and a M.F.A. in Screenwriting from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television. Sh...

Aussie hottie on his new action film

SheKnows sat down with sexy Guy Pearce and his hot Aussie accent (swoon!) for a look at his new action thriller Lockout where he plays the tough guy with all the fabulous lines.

You’ve loved him since L.A. Confidential and Memento, but now you’ll love Guy Pearce even more as the sarcastic ex-secret agent Snow, who's on a mission to save the president’s daughter in the new action thriller Lockout.

Bigger biceps, better lines, Snow has been framed for a murder he didn’t commit — at least we hope he didn’t. When Lockout opens, it’s unclear what happened the night of his final mission that went terribly wrong.

Now, in order to clear his name, he’s got to find the president’s daughter, played byMaggie Grace, who has been taken hostage aboard the space station prison that houses some of the deadliest convicts in the world.

Rub down those biceps, Guy, and get up there!

Seriously though, Guy is as sweet as they come. Known for his nice guy demeanor and general Aussie sweetness, it must have been tough to be so sarcastic and angry at Maggie Grace for most of the film, right?

"It is hard to despise Maggie. She's delightful," Pearce says of his co-star, when SheKnows caught up with the 45-year-old actor at a press interview in Beverly Hills.

The two have a love-hate relationship. He wants to save her, but she wants to tell him he’s a scumbag. And you know how Hollywood works, that’s called sexual chemistry, folks!

"He despises her judgment of him," Pearce says of his character, Snow. "He has a judgment about her because she’s the president’s daughter and she comes from a privileged background."

On sexual chemistry…

Is that the secret to having great sexual chemistry with a co-star? "If you’re aware of the sexual chemistry," Pearce says. "But the two characters are just never allowed to go there, then obviously, it’s great for viewing." Pearce compares the art of restrained sexual chemistry to the TV show Moonlighting, staring Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd.

Part of that special spark might also come from Pearce’s sarcastic comebacks. He has some of the funnies lines of dialog in the film. "I don’t usually get to be funny in films, it was nice for a change, but you never really know if you’re being funny or not," Pearce says modestly.

On set injuries… ouch!

He’s all business. He never breaks a take on a joke. But he did hurt himself quite a bit on Lockout. “I hurt myself almost every week… I pulled a muscle in my leg. I had a hot bullet casing ricochet off the ceiling and go straight down the back of my shirt and burned my back."

And, what about Lockout 2? After all those injuries, Pearce is a little worried, "I’m going to be 50 by the time that happens. I better get prepared."